Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout08/25/1998 COW minutes MINUTES ~ COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE ' AUGUST 25, 1998 I. ~ Mayor Farley called the meeting to order at 7 32 p m Present at the meeting were Trustees Timothy Corcoran, Daniel Nocchi and Irvan,a W~lks Trustee George Clowes arrived at 7 36 p m Absent at the meeting were Trustee Hoefert and Lohrstorfer. Staff members present ~ncluded Village Manager Michael E Janonls, Assistant V~llage Manager Dawd Strahl, Fire Chief M~chael Figolah, F~re Marshal Paul Valentine, Community Development Director W~lham Cooney, Deputy Commumty Development D~rector M~chael Blue, Building Coordinator B~II George, Planning Coordinator Dan Ungede~der, Pubhc Works Director Glen Andler, V~llage Engineer Jeff Wulbecker and Project Engineer Chuck Lindelof I1. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Approval of Minutes from August 11, 1998 Motion made by Trustee Clowes and Seconded by Trustee Nocchl to approve the Minutes Minutes were approved unammously with Trustee Corcoran abstaining ~ III. CITIZENS TO BE HEARD None IV. BUILDING PERMIT AND DEVELOPMENT REVIEW PROCESS Village Manager Janonis prowded a general overview of the topic stating that th~s discuss~on comes about by way of numerous requests from Trustees dunng the end of the year Committee of the Whole subJect suggestions He said that there is a s~gmflcant port~on of the V~llage Code dedicated to Building Permit processing and Development Review process He stated there are approximately 30 staff members who spend most or all of their time dealing with Development ~ssues within the V~llage He stated that many of the Codes which the V~llage must follow are ~ mandates from other governmental bodies He stated the Codes are for protecbon of property and persons and are many times viewed by persons the Village deals w~th as an unnecessary intrusion Because the Village staff must serve d~verse ~"~ groups wr~h d~verse interests ~n applying the Codes, there is a need to work together , to discuss probable ~mprovements to the processing of such requests He stated that attention that ~s generated through the rewew process ~s not n&cessanly umque to Mount Prospect but ~s fairly common ~n other commumt~es He stated ~t ~s fairly common for a large number of people to apply for Permits w~thout significant knowledge about how the process ~s to work which ~s inherent to some conflicts There ~s typically a great deal of hand-holding by staff to assist people as they go through the process Much of the d~scuss~on ~n terms of how to ~mprove the system has found that the V~llage tends to be an easy fo~l and blamed for many of the delays unnecessarily Community Development Director Bill Coon~y stated that vanous members of h~s staff have rewewed the process extensively over the past year He stated that d~fferent points of v~ews were encouraged through d~scuss~ons w~th focus groups, the EDC, the Chamber of Commerce, surveys and general ~nput The surveys that were undertaken by staff included calls to persons who had recently completed the process, persons who were contractors regarding permit requests and a general survey which was avadable at the Building Permits desk at the V~llage Hall The findings which were reahzed through the surveys and focus groups ~ncluded the following ~tems 1. Increase level of commumcat~ons with apphcants ~'~ 2 Increase or continue strong internal communications among staff 3 Shorten the time frame of the process 4 Budd on recent customer service enhancements 5 Focus on time frame enhancements by Issuing Permits tn sections 6 Address walk-through Permit process by reducing the need for separate Planning and Pubhc Works rewew. 7. Continue surveys to determine progress and develop better cooperation between the V~llage and builders With all the enhancements which are addressed ~n the back-up matenal, there st~ll Is a need to consider additional personnel to further enhance the service because many of the enhancements which have been impleme~ '~.d have proved successful but do not address all the findings which have been ~de.~fied through the research David Lundgren, 743 White Oak Court, spoke He stated that he is a Commission member for the EDC and as a representative of the EDC, he fully supports the staff recommendations and would support increased staff to meet the demands of the customers He would further encourage the continuation of customer service surveys and the web page to be developed as a component for follow-up and d~ssem~nabon of ~nformat~on r' Brian Weinberg, Vice President of the Governmental Affairs Committee for the ~*~ Chamber of Commerce, spoke He would like to commend staff for looking at d~fferent Ways to shorten the process and is encouraged by the staff's ability to look at the process w~th a critical eye Adelaide Thulin, Chairperson of the Sign Review Board, spoke She stated that she fully supports the changes as recommended by staff Hal Predovich, 200 East Lonnquist, spoke. He stated that he ~s a member of BDDRC and ~s encouraged by the enhanced communication efforts h~ghhghted and supports the recommended changes General comments from the Village Board members included the following ~tems There was quesbon inqumng whether the need for additional staff would continue to be necessary in a scenario where there was an economic down tum and the level of building may decrease Village Manager Janonis responded by stating the staff tracks performance measures of service plus the re~nvestment in the homes is a good sign that even with an economic down tum, people will conbnue to focus on their largest ~nvestment, their home. He stated with any economic down turn, there would be a review to determine whether reorganization would maximize the staff usage and attntlon is always a possibility. Trustee Corcoran stated that he has experienced numerous complaints from contractors regarding the process He supports an annual survey of the process and wholeheartedly supports involving customers to gain a perspective on the process He encourages the staff to consider technological enhancements and the standardization of all forms even the consideration of working with the Northwest Municipal Conference to standardize forms for all communities He stated that he endorses the reeuest from staff for add~bonal personnel and combining some advisory commissions with I~ke functions Trustee Nocchi asked whether the Plan Commission and ZBA had had the opportumty to review the suggestions as proposed by staff Community Dev.,Iopment Director Cooney stated that he did not go to each individual Commission but wanted some d~rectlon pnor to adws~ng these other advisory groups of possible changes. 3 : Trustee Clowes stated that he was pleased w~th the recommendations and supported the enhanced customer service focus m add,ben to the additional use of technology He stated he is reluctant to add staff and would hke to see other enhancements implemented and staff only added as a last resort He suggested a rewew of workloads to determine how to obtain addlbonal effort by staff and he~'~ ,, would support the ehmlnabon of the concurrence vote by the Board as suggested Trustee Wilks stated that she hked the top to bottom review which has taken place and suggested a rewew to determine whether some Permits could be ehm~nated She feels that each advisory commission has a role and feels that some steps could be ehmmated through Joint commissions She would support the removal of the concurrence vote only if the Board d~d not waive a second reading Community Development Director Cooney stated that the Village does not have to issue permits It ~s a policy decision by the V~llage Board He stated that much work is done w~thout a Permit and there are significant nsks involved w~th such work and there may be less value to ehmmate or reduce the hassle factor associated w~th Permit processing and focus instead on the value of Permltshnspect~ons Mr Cooney also stated that of the two pos~t~ons suggested, he feels the Project Engineer would be their pnonty of the two positions General comments from the Vdlage Board members included the following items There was a suggestion to review the structure ~n other commumfles to determine whether longer hours for service without add~bonal staff works better than other opportunities. There was also a quesbon as to whether regulabons have changed over the last five years which would impact overall staff work load General consensus of the Village Board was to support the staff recommendations as submitted but to bring back the recommendations as part of another Committee of the Whole meeting in which all members are present so that a final determination can be made. Wllage Manager Janonis stated he w~ll forward the report to the vanous Board and Commissions as part of an Agenda in order to sohc~t ~nput and provide any feedback to the Vdlage Board V. ANY OTHER BUSINESS ~'~ Trustee Necchi inquired as to what the status was of the CornEd meeting ~n terms of the prom~sed follow up from them He also wanted to thank Representatwe Krause and Village staff for coordinating the Metra meeting 4 Village Manager Janonis responded by stating that he has received an ~ntenm status letter from CornEd and they are working to complete pulhng the informabon to~ether by the end of August Trustee Nocchi wanted to comment on a recent memorandum distributed by Trustee W,Iks about a proposed rebate to residents of the proJected $250,000 surplus for 1999 He stated that revenues only exceed expenditures at th~s brae and there is sbll a need to address the under-funding of capital projects and vehicles He does not want to tie the hands of the V~llage Board at th~s bme He would like to rewew staffing proposals and see if the surplus as projected ~s a s~ngle-year event or could be a trend He wanted to avoid any suggesbon that that the appearance of such a recommendation by Trustee W~lks could be perceived as an election year tacbc Trustee Clowes stated that he objected to the suggestion that Trustee W~lks' proposal was an elecbon year tactic He also stated that the increase ~n the Property Tax last year was for a short-term problem which has now been allewated He supports a thorough review of options relating to the revenue surplus Trustee Wilks stated that the change from deficit to surplus was s~gn~ficant but a rebate in the vehicle sticker could be a one-time give back to residents who have been supportive of Village activities m the past Trustee Corcoran stated that regardless of how the surplus or windfall may be addressed, there remains a need to address the under-funding of capital projects and vehicle replacements, He stated there is a need to take some pressure off these items for one year and to look at a permanent funding source VI. MANAGER'S REPORT V~llage Manager Janonis stated there is a Cit~zens' Ubhty Board Area Code informabonal meeting scheduled for August 27 at the Mount Prospect Pubhc L~brary beginning at 7.00 p.m A motion was made by Trustee Corcoran and seconded by Trustee Nocch~ to enter into a closed session to d~scuss property acquisition Motion approved The meeting was adjourned into closed session at 9 39 p m The Committee of the Whole was reconvened into open session at 10 39 p m There was no further bus~ness wk A motIon was made by Trustee Wdks, and Seconded by Trustee Corcoran to adjourn the meeting The meetIng was adjourned at 10 40 p m ~'~ ~ . Respectfully submitted, DAVID STRAHL Assistant Wllage Manager DS/rcc H \GEN~Cow~M~nutes\81198 COW Minutes doc 6